![]() ![]() ![]() In the Beaufort Sea near Alaska, which is also in the divergent group, however, where the waters are among the least productive in the Arctic and support fewer seals, the polar bear populations are struggling. The Norwegian archipelago is surrounded by the rich waters of a continental shelf and in spring – the crucial hunting season for polar bears – there is enough coverage for them to find seal pups. In Svalbard, the ice moves away from the shore in summer, creating a divergent ecoregion where the picture is uncertain. In Hudson Bay, where the ice is seasonal, longer fasting periods are forcing bears to come on shore, where there is little to eat. The complicated global perspective of the estimated 26,000 wild polar bears – which has big data gaps in Russia and parts of Greenland – has much to do with types of sea ice, which are grouped into four ecoregions – seasonal, divergent, convergent and archipelago – according to Dr Steven Amstrup, chief scientist emeritus at Polar Bears International. If someone told us 20 to 30 years ago that the ice would be in this situation, most of us would have guessed that polar bears would have done worse than they’re actually doing,” he says. They have three to four months’ less sea ice now than three decades ago on average, which is a lot. “I have to say that I’m a bit surprised that polar bears do so well in Svalbard because the changes have been so big. It’s easier to tell the public simple stories: the sea ice is melting so polar bears are doing worse Prof Jon Aars, Norwegian Polar Institute “Denning” – behaviour around making dens – has changed and bears are swimming long distances, but, says Aars, there is still enough sea ice in the spring for the bears to hunt successfully. ![]() There is growing evidence that the bears are switching hunting practices – targeting reindeer as well as seals, a change that was first documented on the archipelago in 2021. This could be because the mammals are still recovering from the pressures of hunting, which was banned in Norway in 1973, and Aars does not rule out a future collapse. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Imagesĭespite this dramatic change in conditions, however, the polar bear population on Svalbard has yet to experience a decline. The polar bear population in Svalbard, Norway, has yet to experience a decline. ![]()
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